pundit, fired both of them. fox news. well, great. two more jobs lost under obama. thanks a lot. >> i've been in a bit of a >> the late night comedy writers get the last word. the "ed show" is up next. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" from new york. the northeast is in the middle of a massive snowstorm. and on the west coast, a manhunt is under way for a california cop killer. >> 350,000 customers are now without power tonight. and there are states of emergency in massachusetts, connecticut, rhode island, and new york. there are travel bans in massachusetts, and connecticut except for essential vehicles.

almost 5,000 flights have been canceled so far. new jersey transit suspended several of its train lines, the morris and essex lines, montclair boonton line have been suspended. the storm is really hitting new england especially hard. this was massachusetts governor deval patrick earlier today. >> i have signed an executive order banning vehicle traffic effective at 4:00 today. this is going to be a very serious weather event if we get the amount of snow forecast, the recovery will be slow, people should prepare for that. >> this is thought to be the first time such a travel ban has been instituted in massachusetts since 1978. right now, there are the numbers. there are more than 191,000 power outages in massachusetts alone. rhode island experiencing about 122,000 as a result of the storm. connecticut more than 34,000. the two biggest utilities there,

planning for the possibility of more than 400,000 homes and businesses without power before it's all over. joining me now, weather channel meteorologist mike seidel who is in revere, massachusetts, where it has gotten visibly worse, mike, since i talked to you about an hour ago. >> the big change here, it's a drop in temperature, craig. the past two hours, nearby logan has dropped from 30 to 24 to 19. the wind chill now is just below zero. the consistency of the snow is powdery, more susceptible to drifting. when you talk about a foot and a half of snow, we're talking about huge drifts. the wind gusts, 76 miles an hour in the past hour at logan. that's the highest gusts we've seen so far this evening. you can see how it knocks you off your feet. just to give you a sense of what happens when you have the powdery snow and you throw it up in the air, boy, you can see why it's drifting.

it gets ripped like a frenzy downwind. the winds are just a little north, rather a little east of north. they were east all day. they're starting to back around. by tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon, they'll go west as the storm goes on by. revere beach, drifts here from mid-to-late morning. hampton, connecticut has logged in 19 1/2 inches of snow. there was a serious band that migrated across connecticut. one top town picked up six inches of snow in one hour. that's what you call like a summertime thunderstorm. it went convective. we've had numerous reports of thunderstorms. you talked about a lot of power going out. there will be more going out. the power companies have told customers around here, if the power goes out, it may be out for three or four days. it's much colder this time of the year.

what i can tell you here at the beach and probably statewide, with all the crews on the scene, they're going around the traffic circle here an revere boulevard. they have the cars off the road. the governor said everybody has to get off the road by 4:00 p.m. everybody, i think, did that. that's making the cleanup and dig out much better than, for instance, the blizzard of '78. cars were everywhere and they couldn't plow the roadways. they're going at it tonight the best they can. the next high tide is coming up at 10:00 in the morning. we'll be watching areas south of here down towards the cape where they're more susceptible to surge and flooding. some of the breakers, 20 to 25 feet situate, and the whole area of the cape, it looks like an arm in the wind. it's blowing down towards the cape and piling up that water. craig, things will not get much worse but it's going to be like

this for quite a few more hours before the wind and the snow back off later tomorrow morning. we'll send it back to you and reminder that we'll keep you updated all night long on the weather channel and msnbc. all right, mike seidel, get inside, sir. thank you. blizzard conditions have been blamed for this. well, not exactly that. blizzard conditions have been blame for a 19-car pileup earlier today in maine, a few miles outside of portland. the massive pileup shut down interstate 295 for a few hours. the state police worked to clear it. at least one person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. the governor of connecticut as we just mention, dan malloy, told drivers to get off the road. only emergency vehicles are allowed. nbc's ron al within the very latest from hartford. good evening, craig. every hour the conditions here have deteriorated. state officials are anticipating the snowfall here at about 5 inches an hour into the night.

and the winds picking up. we were talking to the governor earlier today, he said that was one of his biggest concerns, gusting winds, 30, 40 miles per hour, sustain for a period of time. along with the snow. that's a blizzard. and that's what could cause the real problems here. they expect about 30% of the state to be knocked out of power. and that could go on for several days, because some of the power linesburied, it will take time to undig them and for the workers to even get out there. they have people from michigan, north carolina, south carolina, here to help. people have been heeding the warnings, they've been off the roads and staying hunkered down at home. again, the worst of it is now starting to roll in here in connecticut. craig, back to you. >> ron in hartford, thanks to you, sir. here's the thing, bill karins, i want to bring in our nbc meteorologist here. as you mentioned and we saw ron in connecticut.

we heard from mike seidel in massachusetts. it's really bad there. it sounds like at least in new york city here, it may not be as bad as we thought it might get. >> yes. one little spot that didn't do so bad. we didn't think it would be historic in new york city, not like what we're seeing in hartford. we krnt goiweren't going to get points in connecticut like we were in rhode island and massachusetts. the wine gud gusts, the worst o, we saw the gust to 76 in boston, which is super impressive. i'm sure that did some damage all by itself. with the weight of the snow on the trees, i'm sure there's a lot of downed trees. i'm sure the power outages are doubling. here's a look at the storm. this looks almost like a huge hurricane. this is a big winter blizzard, call it a nor'easter if you

want. we haven't had one location with three hours of visibility less than a quarter mile and winds above 35 miles per hour. that's the criteria. you need to meet both of those for three hours to be considered a blizzard. we've been close in areas like providence and boston but not quite yet. this isn't our winter radar, it doesn't show you rain versus snow but it gives you the idea of where the heaviest is. the banned is sneaking up through new hampshire and about to go into coastal maine. we've seen enhanced snow around new york city. we only had 2 or 3 inches in central park. you're probably going to pick up another 2 or 3 inches as we go throughout now to about 2:00 a.m. even new jersey that wasn't getting snow. central jersey, is now getting a little bit of snow. it's snowing back to syracuse, albany, new york and up into england. it's widespread. the historical part of this is in eastern mass. we mention the temperatures.

it's very cold. the colder it is, the easier it is for the snow to pile it up. the snow ratios we call it are much higher the colder it is. that 20 degrees in boston will pile up in a hurry overnight. come the overnight hours, that's where the heaviest snow will be focused from providence to boston up along the coast. new york city, somewhere around 6 to 8 possibly, hartford, connecticut, very impressive foot and a half to two feet. portland down to boston, someone in there, craig, is still going to end up with 30 inches of snow. >> wow. >> it's going to be a close call to see if anyone does hit 30. that's the magic number. you don't see that, maybe in the mountains of colorado. that's usually about it. >> i want to show our viewers at home, we found this nasa picture. this is a look from space. >> pretty cool. >> at when this storm looked like. i believe, you krocorrect me ifm wrong, i believe i heard jim cantore say there's a storm

behind this one, is that right. >> there is a storm. there will be a blizzard saturday night and sunday throughout the central plains. it's not on this image, actually. the image you're looking at here, florida is on the bottom. the actual parent storm is over the carolinas. when this image was taken early this morning, the other piece of the storm was over michigan. that's what produced the snow last night there. pretty cool image. i'm sure when this storm is all said and done we'll be able to see the swath of snow up through new england, too, the fresh blanket we call it. >> new york city mayor michael bloomberg talked about the big apple's preparation, since so many areas are still dealing with devastation from hurricane sandy. >> new york city hasn't gotten it quite as bad as before but parts of long island, a few spots have picked up 12 to 18 inches of snow, especially on the north shore of long island got nailed. the further east you go out on the island, some areas will get two feet of snow. that's a big deal for them.

that's a question i've been getting a lot, craig, how unusual is a storm like this? i'd say for boston to providence, this is a once in 20, maybe once in 30-year storm. for hartford, new york city, long island, maybe a once every five-year storm. >> again, as mike mentioned earlier tonight, the story is the snow, the story is the wind. the day after that, the dig out, the cleanup, the power outages. >> you have to go somewhere. >> bill karins on watch for us. we'll check in with you later. thanks, sir. do appreciate you as always. ed schultz, back after the break with the latest on the man hunt for a fired cop who released a political manifesto. ed has that and a whole lot more, right after this. >> our guys are making great progress at this point but the search continues. >> it's not rambo. it's real. the man hunt continues in california.

up next, new developments from big bear mountain and from los angeles. where the lapd headquarters remains on lockdown. then karl rove loses his cool over ashley judd on national television. bill clinton is back, giving direction to the democrats. we'll talk to the justin bieber fans braving a monster storm to get "saturday night live" tickets. and the mayor of cable news gets caught lying to the folks again. >> heard anything on nbc? >> not yet. >> no. tonight we'll expose bill o'reilly's gross deception about msnbc. our social media visibility. more "likes." more tweets. so, beginning today, my son brock and his whole team will be our new senior social media strategists. any questions? since we make radiator valves wouldn't it be better if we just let fedex help us to expand to new markets? hmm gotta admit that's better than a few "likes."

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coming up, bill o'reilly is caught in a massive lie, and he is trying to weasel out of it. i've got a lot to say about this one, coming up. a former police officer and marine is on a revenge killing rampage. the latest on massive manhunt in california is next. you can listen to my radio show on sirius xm radio monday through friday noon to 3:00 p.m. share your thoughts tonight on facebook and twitter using #edshow. we're coming right back.

thanks for staying with us tonight. this story sounds like it's right out of the movies, but it's dangerously real tonight. hundreds of police officers are

braving snowy conditions in the california mountains to find christopher dorner. dorner is a 33-year-old ex-police officer and war veteran wanted for killing three people and wounding two others over the past few days. officers say dorner has declared war on the police force, and they're worried he won't stop killing until he is dead. dorner has covered a massive area across southern california over the past 72 hours. police say dorner's rampage started in irvine where he shot and killed keith lawrence and michelle quan. quan is the daughter of a former lapd captain and may have been seeking revenge by targeting her. police picked up dorner's trail three days later in san diego, almost 83 miles south of irvine. dorner was spotted trying to steal a boat. so police launched a door-to-door search and came up empty. dorner popped up again 100 miles north in riverside, where he allegedly ambushed two police officers.

one officer died and the other was wounded before dorner vanished again. eight hours later and 52 miles northwest, police in big bear lake discovered a burning truck like dorner's. police found some footprints which disappeared into the trees. tonight more than 100 police officers, fbi agents, and s.w.a.t. team members are searching eight square miles in the mountains of big bear lake, california. police had to put chains on their armored personnel carriers. and look at this. s.w.a.t. team members are riding in sno-cats so they can access 200 cabins in remote locations. so far there is still no sign of dorner, and police say he could be anywhere. dorner may be carrying armor-piercing bullets so police are on heightened alert. we're covering this story from several angles tonight. this massive hunt, including a profile of this dangerous suspect. first, let's turn to nbc's miguel almaguer who is live outside lapd headquarters, which

i understand has been shut down. tell us about the new surveillance photo investigators just released, miguel. >> good evening, ed. you paint a descriptive picture what is going out across this region. there is really a heightened sense of awareness at lapd. as you mentioned, the entrances and the exits are heavily guarded. we're told that snipers have been in the area, are at times on the rooftops protecting this facility. as you mentioned about an hour ago, law enforcement officials released some surveillance photos of the suspect. they were taken in late january as he was working his way in a local hotel. this was before the shootings but they are recent, what police believe are the most recent photos of the suspect. he certainly does look very similar to other photos we have seen. so no major difference in his description. he is wearing civilian clothes, as opposed to many of the clothes we have been showing

you, which is where he is wearing those army fatigues. police are circulating the pictures around, not just to the media, but also on flyers to the local region, telling folks this is the man you want to be on the lookout for. as you mentioned, a man who police say is a former police officer and is now an accused cop killer, who has already killed three people, ed. >> miguel, are they confident that he is in that big bear mountain area? >> we know a short time ago officers up in big bear area held a press conference. they said they are getting close to wrapping up their search. they say they do not now believe that their suspect is in that area, but they want to be very thorough before they clear that area. officers we're told will be up there for a few more hours, likely through nightfall, about 100 tactical officers sweeping all across big bear, which is very close to a popular ski resort. they went door to door, knocking on cabins, making sure their suspect was not holed up in any of the cabins. they do believe that area is secure. as a precaution, officers will

remain up there for the next couple hours before coming down the mountain, ed. >> and i understand that police will not release the name of the riverside police officer who was killed in fear of retribution to the family members would be very concern. this guy is hunting, is he not? >> that's correct. this 34-year-old police officer, a veteran of the force for some 11 years, we know he has a young family. we know he was married, family man and father. that's all we know about it. his superior officer says they don't want to release his name because they believe the suspect is known to hunt not just police officer and law enforcement officials, but also members of their family. so for that reason, they don't want to release the officer who was killed, his name or even the actual area that he patrols for fear of retribution, because as you know, the suspect is still at large. >> all right. miguel almaguer, great to have you with us tonight. thank you for that report. >> nice to be with you, ed.

now let's turn to clint van zandt, former fbi profiler and msnbc criminal analyst. clint, what are we dealing with here tonight? is this a well-trained rambo-type missionary? >> i hate to give him that much credit, ed, but unfortunately, he deserves it. as you and i talked about it on your radio show today, this guy appears to be a narcissistic psychopath. when you read his writings and his 12-page or so manifesto, i mean, he starts out addressing it to america, as if we all should be paying attention to him, which unfortunately we are doing on national television. but then he goes on to talk about challenges he's had since he was a child, how he was -- how he was oppressed, how other people put him down. his ultimate goal was to be a police officer. he achieved that, only to lose it within three years because of allegations that he was -- that

he lied. but he still -- and he still held on to that rank of naval lieutenant. and that still met his sense of self-esteem and self-worth. but the navy now has let him go. as of february 1st, he is no longer in the navy. he didn't make lieutenant commander. so the navy basically kicked him out, let him go out of the navy. he blames the lapd not only for firing him, but for perhaps passing that information on to the navy and therefore the navy got rid of him too. so he has been terminated by the police department. he has been terminated by the navy. and now he is out perhaps as the ultimate terminator, taking human lives. >> your thoughts on the probability of catching him in the near future. >> well, ed, last night when he -- when we found the truck that had been torched, realize this is a smart, educated guy.

he goes down to san diego, allegedly to steal a boat. indicates that he wants to go to mexico. ed, he drops his wallet with his badge in it. come on, this guy is smarter than that. he left it so we would find it. he goes up to big bear, drops his car off and sets it on fire, almost putting spotlights on saying now i'm up here. this guy is trying to make us look left, make us look right. ed, if he would have been up in big bear mountain last night, it got to 15 to 20 degrees. if this guy was carrying guns, ammo street clothes, walking through the mountains, 275 pounds, he would have started sweat be, he would have got hypothermia. had he stayed outside, he would have died. if police say he is not in any of the cabins up there, and they know that for sure, he either had a switch car up there, or somehow he stole or hijacked a car and left that mountain area. and whatever he did, ed, he is probably one of the more dangerous fugitives that law

enforcement has looked for in a long time. he knows weapons. he knows police and military tactics. he has guns. he has proven the ability to shoot and kill. and he says he doesn't care if he dies. that's a terrible deadly combination. >> clint van zandt, thanks for your insight tonight. i appreciate it so much. the drone story exposed the mayor of cable news in a big way. i'll tear into that story next. big bill clinton turns on the charm down in virginia. this could be a big key for hillary in 2016. he's got the plan. we're right back. we were so blessed when we had triplets

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welcome back to "the ed show." no, we're not playing the liars poker tonight. this government memo obtained by nbc news has bill o'reilly i mean all mixed up. you see, on wednesday, bill o'reilly claimed that nbc news did not cover the president's drone program. we should point out when o'riley says nbc news, he also means this network, msnbc. >> remember the outcry about water boarding? >> sure. >> you know, everybody jumping up and down, nbc news, i thought they were going to melt down over there. you heard anything on nbc about the drones? >> not yet. >> you haven't heard anything over there about this. neither have i. neither has my staff. we haven't heard anything. but we heard a lot about waterboarding, but nothing about drone strikes. >> so bill o'reilly and his staff must not be following the news cycle, because on monday, nbc news obtained this justice

department memo. it lays out the legal case for using drones to kill americans overseas suspected of terrorism. well, the night before o'reilly's bogus claim, this was the lead story on "nbc nightly news." >> on our broadcast tonight, an nbc news exclusive. the president's drone war. tonight the government document that lays out the case for killing americans who are suspected of terrorism overseas. >> emphasis exclusive there, bill. you didn't have it there first. the drone story was also covered here on msnbc and originally broken monday night on "the rachel maddow show." see, o'reilly knew he was wrong. last night he came up with some lame excuse. >> i put forth that over at nbc news and other media places. they were hysterical over waterboarding. but muted over president obama's drone attacks, at least until yesterday. >> nice try, bill. msnbc was critical over the use

of torture during the bush administration, but this network also has a record of holding the obama administration accountable. here is a clip of "the ed show" on tuesday night, the day before o'reilly's original claim. >> i have to say as an american citizen, we are all entitled to due process under the law. and this document gives the president the ability to act as judge, jury and executioner. i'm troubled by it. it doesn't meet the moral or constitutional standard that we expect of any administration. >> meanwhile, let's take a look at the way fox news covered the waterboarding story that bill is talking about back in 2009. >> khalid sheikh mohammed i understand was waterboarded 183 times. did anyone care about that? >> i would have done exactly what bush did. >> you disappoint me. you know better. >> i would have dunked that guy in the water a thousand times to save your life. >> have you ever been water boarded? >> no, but ollie north has, and i talked to him about it.

>> would you consent to be water boarded so we could get the truth out of you? >> sure. >> can we water board you? are you busy on sunday? >> i'll do it for charity. >> it's important to know that sean hannity never had the guts to be waterboarded. as for o'reilly, bottom line, he was dead wrong on both claims. o'reilly's gut told him, well, he had to say something. but what he said he did without checking the facts. and he was wrong. it's a pattern over at fox news. and it's starting to hurt their credibility. you see a new ppp poll shows 46% of voters do not trust fox news. that's at an all-time high. the american people know fox news is not fair and balanced. they are unreliable and wrong. bill clinton, the secretary of planning, is back with the democrats. >> if you're going to stir up a storm, it's important to turn -- not to give up on anybody, to talk to them.

>> up next, the big panel on bill clinton's fiery speech to democrats. bieber fever breaks out during a blizzard, and our cameras are there. >> let's get to work! and karl rove is launching brand-new attacks on ashley judd. >> this is just the opening story. this is the opening act. >> i'll ask howard fineman why bush's brain is running scared. a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪ if you don't have something important to say? so if ydead battery,t tire, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geico's emergency roadside assistance is there 24/7.

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you have to understand about politics nothing is permanent. it is an ongoing enterprise. >> that of course former president bill clinton rallying the troops at the house democrats' annual retreat in virginia earlier today. the president, clinton, he dispensed a healthy dose of political wisdom, and some tough love as well. the former president warned the crowd not to write off the republican party, despite the gop's current state of affairs.

as for the republicans attempt at rebranding. >> it's easy to sneer at that. the strategy of theirs is not necessarily guaranteed to fail. >> clinton warned the dems not to rely on demographics alone and americans' growing diversity does not guarantee a democratic majority. >> we should not give up on our ability, particularly when these periods when we're not in the heat of the election to begin a conversation with people who are not as extreme as a lot of the candidates they voted for in the republican party. >> clinton hit the republicans' hypocrisy on the budget noting the party only likes austerity when democrats are president. >> here is the dilemma. we do have a long-term debt problem, but that doesn't mean that austerity now is the right response. >> the former president also touched on policy. he urged the lawmakers to tackle immigration reform as soon as possible and encourage them to own obama care.

>> we democrats own the health reform issue now for good or ill. we had it. we did it. and there is a lot of good things in that bill. but it really matters how it's implemented. >> lots to talk about tonight. let's turn to john nichols, washington correspondent of "the nation" magazine. also with us this evening goldie taylor of the goldie taylor project and mike papantonio. host of the ring of fire radio show. here's bill clinton urging the dems to good on the offense when it comes to policy. good advice? what do you think? >> exceptionally good advice. the republican party is off message right now. they're struggling with themselves. they're actually under karl rove organizing against one another. and so it's a good message. and it's especially good if he focused on that issue of austerity, saying the democratic party should be the party of growth, not the party of cuts. >> goldie, if the democrats can't get immigration reform

done before the midterms, how big of a loss will that be? >> i think it's a real problem. and it will be a crisis in leadership. not in modern times have we had a former president be in this kind of position to be able to counsel his party in the way that bill clinton has. i think it is the right message. i think it is dead-on. and you're absolutely right. we need comprehensive immigration reform before the mid terms. if not, republicans are going to have a leg up going in. >> mike, you know, looking at the way it's unfolding here early in the second term we hear a lot about guns. we hear a lot about immigration reform. what about the middle class? what is going to be on the table for the middle class? what do the democrats have to do? >> well, i think the whole message goes to what the whole message needs, and that is a little bit of relief after this last go-around. i think his message is, stand for something. he is trying to tell the democratic base quit being this party that is so willing to run away from real issues. don't budge on the issues. stand for something. do something. the democrats have had a hard time doing for so long.

i think it was a great message. and the middle class ought to be very glad to hear that, because he is telling that my people are with you. they're going to stay with you. and i hope you have some people that will believe what he had to say. we have to stand for something. >> you know, goldie, the former president's advice on firearms was to stay on message and keep going. how much can the democrats get? >> i think it's dead-on. i think at the end of the day, you know, democrats have to buck up and get a little bit of bravado about this and understand what is really at stake. if we can't really honestly talk about banning assault weapons, if we can't honestly talk about banning, you know, those high capacity clips, if we can't honestly talk about closing the loophole and things like the universal background check, i think that's a real problem for democrats if they can't stand on the principles that they claim to have. >> how important, john nichols, is it going to be for this man, bill clinton, to be an ambassador to lead the way for hillary clinton? or is that even necessary at

this point? >> it's not necessary for him to lead the way for hillary clinton. in fact, when he tried to in 2008, he didn't do all that good a job. bill clinton's elder statesman role is the key one here. and he is, again, he is most well regarded on economics. and when he went in there and said we don't need austerity right now, that i hope is the message that democrats take in, because they're going to go into a lot of big fights over all sorts of fiscal and debt issues. and i hope they'll keep bill clinton's message in mind. >> well, another policy as we just brought up a moment ago was the gun control issue. the president didn't shy away from that. this is mr. clinton urging democrats not to shy away from the subject, and now is the time. >> i see this whole gun issue as an opportunity, not a toxic land mine. but it depends on how you do it. >> mike, is that a political jump right there? because back in '94 when they passed the assault weapons ban,

some democrats paid for it at the polls. >> well, what bill clinton knows is that the last cycle, the nra spent $13 million on their clients. they had a 1% success rate. he knows that between 2004 and 2010, they had just over a 1% success rate. and he knows the american people are with him. it's very sound advice. i hope democrats will listen to him and not be their traditional democrat and budge and give in on this very important issue that could be a winner for him. >> well, a bipartisan group of senators are in talks about background checks. goldie, is that possible? i mean, i think if they can get, you know, to close the gun show loophole, and if they can get extensive background checks, comprehensive background checks, that's probably achievable. the assault weapons ban and the magazine, that might not get there. what do you think? >> you know, i think that we're in a different day than we were back when the first assault rifle ban was passed. we had some democrats in the south who were on the fence, frankly, because they lived in very tenuous districts. that's not true today.

and so i think you're right. you know, the closing the loophole may be the only thing that is achievable during this time. but that's only true because strong democrats, moderate republicans, which there aren't very many anymore simply won't stand up like they should. >> john, you know, the gun issue in the middle of the country, people just don't like the feeling that hey, the government is coming and telling me i got to do something. this is a tough issue for rural democrats, isn't it? >> it's always a tough issue. but it's not an impossible one. and remember, bill clinton, again, the guy we were talking about, bridged an awful lot of these gaps back in the '90s. i think democrats can still do it. but the key to it is to remember that you have to talk to folks with respect. i frankly think it was beneficial to president obama to have a picture go out of him skeet shooting. and i do think it's important for democrats to say they don't want to take away guns. they want to do sensible regulations that most gun owners favor.

always going to that message i think works. >> all right. john nichols, goldie taylor, mike papantonio, great to have you with us on the big panel tonight. thank you so much. >> thanks, ed. people are facing the snowstorm of the century, to see this guy? you can make this stuff up. stay with us. polident kills 99.99% of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains. that's why i recommend polident. [ male announcer ] cleaner, fresher, brighter every day. ♪ don't know what i'd do ♪ i'd have nothing to prove [ male announcer ] zales is the diamond store. save 30 percent off an amazing selection storewide, now through sunday. an amazing selection storewide, all stations come over to mithis is for real this time. step seven point two one two. verify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one.

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coming up, howard fineman says karl rove is done? wow. i've got to disagree with that. howard and i are going to talk about that coming up. stay with us. >> announcer: lifelock monitors thousands of these sites 24 hours a day. and if we discover any of our members' data for sale, lifelock is there with the most comprehensive identity theft protection available. [♪...] [squealing, crash] call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. [ coughs ] [ breathes deeply, wind blows ] [ male announcer ] halls. let the cool in. he can talk to china, mongolia and all the koreas and he eats velveeta shells and cheese. so who are you calling amateur? liquid gold.

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welcome back to "the ed show." ah, there is always room for hearty folks. you're looking at a shot of rockefeller center here in new york city. it's 32 degrees outside, snowing and winds are gusting at about 22 miles per hour. and there are about 100 people outside waiting for tickets to see justin bieber tomorrow night on "saturday night live." "ed show" producers caught up with a few of these devoted fans earlier tonight, just to see how they're hanging on. >> yay, justin, we love you! >> we love you, justin! >> justin! >> so worth it! >> how long have you guys been waiting out here? >> hours. >> 2:00 to 3:00. >> it's so cold. >> we forgot. our brains froze. >> how long would you guys wait in a blizzard to see justin bieber? >> forever. my whole life. until my 21st birthday.

>> forever until he came out. >> for a million years. i love him so much. >> if we got in tomorrow, then i would probably cry. just thinking about it gets me emotional. >> it would be hard to hold it together. >> what is it like to stand out here for justin bieber tonight? >> oh, it's just wonderful. i'd do anything for my daughter. >> we were singing, and he brought us donuts and soup and pizza! yay. >> and hot chocolate. >> he is making my dreams come true. ♪ if i was your boyfriend, i'd never let you go ♪ >> rain, hail, sleet or snow. "saturday night live" normally hands out their tickets on saturday, but because of the storm, fans are going to be able to get their tickets by 11:00 tonight. so they're paying the price of being rewarded for it. coming up, wait until you see what karl rove is saying about ashley judd now. keep it right here. at tyco integrated security, we consider ourselves business optimizers.

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possibly several months. so, if the duck isn't able to work, how will he pay for his living expenses? aflac. like his rent and car payments? aflac. what about gas and groceries? aflac. cell phone? aflac, but i doubt he'll be using his phone for quite a while cause like i said, he has a fractured beak. [ male announcer ] send the aflac duck a get-well card at getwellduck.com. and in the big finish tonight, earlier this week, karl rove's superpac, american crossroads launched a preemptive strike on actress and rumored potential kentucky senate candidate ashley judd. the pac spent $10,000 on an online ad attacking judd's political views and painting her as a hollywood liberal. all this despite judd's jump into politics is nothing but speculation at this point. but that's not stopping karl rove from going forward with a

sustained attack. >> poor ashley judd. come on now. are you making fun of her? >> we are making fun of her. we're making fun of her by using her comments. we don't want to have happen in kentucky what happened in minnesota, where al franken knew i need to have a short campaign. i don't want people to pay a lot of attention to me. i don't want them to know a lot about me except i'm a celebrity and a nice guy. she doesn't want a long campaign, because this is just the opening story. this is the opening ad. she has said a bunch of stuff that the people of kentucky when they hear about it are not going to like. and we're going to lay it out in plenty of time for people to get a handle on it. >> and of course, after an embarrassing show in the 2012 election, it looks like karl rove has decided to just get out there early. embarrassing show in the 2012 election, it looks like karl rove has decided to just get out there early. but whatever the motivation is, it sure says a lot about mitch mcconnell's standing in kentucky. joining me tonight, howard fineman, nbc news political analyst and editorial director of "the huffington post" media group. howard, great to have you with us. i want to point out first about ashley judd.

you were out in front of this. you were saying for a long time she was going to be talked about as a candidate. >> well, i can reveal the truth here tonight, ed, which is i began my so-called career as a reporter in kentucky. i spent five years in kentucky. i consider it my home away from home. and i keep in touch with politics there. and a number of months ago, a very prominent political figure in kentucky said hey, what do you think about ashley judd? and i said you got to be kidding. and they said no. she is smart. she knows the state. she loves politics. and mitch mcconnell is weak. so yeah, i've been interested in this all along. i'm still not certain by any means that she going to run. >> sure. >> what is fascinating in this context is karl rove is spending a lot of time on this, trying to get attention he is still relevant right this minute it seems to me. >> i think he is using ashley judd, because he wants visibility as well. >> yes. >> and he wants to get people

excited. what about that? >> well, sure. and listen, karl had a tough 2012. he is a fighter, he is a resilient guy. he is going to do anything he can to stay on fox and keep collecting money for his pac. >> well, the title "karl rove is done", that's quite a statement. why do you believe that? why do you think his time is up? >> well, what i meant by saying that is that i reviewed his history. and showed how he went from being sort of a mainstream moderate republican when he started out with richard nixon in the '70s as the head of the college republicans, which is where carl started, to being the architect not only of the bush campaign of george w. bush's campaign, but really of the bush republican party. there was pretty much a consensus, not total, but pretty solid consensus among conservatives and mainstream republicans in the republican party that george w. bush and

karl rove put together starting in about 1999 and through george bush's presidency. what i meant by karl rove being done is not that he isn't a shrewd operator, not that american crossroads isn't going to spend a lot of money, not that he isn't going to be involved in a lot of campaigns, but he is not going to be the architect of a new republican party anymore, i don't think. i think his time has passed for that kind of thing because the party is too divided and the tea party is too angry. >> but the core of the republican party, the majority of the republican party is not fringe. i mean, i just think the fringe is giving them all kinds of problems. and i think rove is cagey. he is the kind of guy that doesn't make the same mistake twice. >> right. >> and the connection to the bush family. >> right. >> if jeb bush were to step out and say i'm going to run, i think karl rove would be one of his first phone calls. >> i'll grant you that. i think, ed, i'm not sure that jeb is quite as close to karl as w. is and was. but you may be right. i'm not sure that jeb is going

to run. obviously marco rubio is out there. in kentucky derby terms, rubio is fast out of the gate. i did see jeb bush the other week in an event. it did strike me he hasn't ruled out the idea of maybe rung. and i know a lot of big money in florida and elsewhere around the country want jeb to run. >> sure. >> i'm not sure he is going to do it. if he doesn't do it, i don't know who karl's horse is going to be in 2016. >> i think the big job for karl rove is understanding how to do the infrastructure and the social network and the groundwork kind stuff that democrats did for obama. i don't think karl rove is on the cutting edge of that. >> i totally agree with you on that. that was what plouffe and axelrod and those people did for obama and obama was state-of-the-art. what the obama people learned they learned ironically from the george w. campaign in 2004, plus howard dean, who really was a pioneer.

i don't know where that pioneer -- that tactical pioneer is going to be on the republican side. >> well, that's the big question. who is the next leader when it comes to running big campaigns for the republicans? i just look -- i look at rove. anybody that can get somebody re-elected in the midst of an unpopular war is still going to be a player down the road somewhere. that's kind of how i view karl rove. i don't think he is done. i think he still has too many connections. >> i'll concede. ed, i will concede when i wrote the kicker to that piece and made that statement, you know, if you take that in isolation, it sounds pretty conclusive and final. i know karl viewed it that way. but i take your point. >> quickly, howard, how unpopular is mitch mcconnell in kentucky? could he be in trouble? >> well, put it this way -- first all, the republican base doesn't really like him. partly because he is from louisville. partly because he is an insider in washington. he has never been wildly popular